Steve Jackson Games 2012 Stakeholder Report

[Lord Rasputin]

Are they much of an RPG company anymore? The priorities for 2012 say nothing about RPGs, and the rest of the report says little more. Based on a couple lines in there, I assume they're going to continue releasing new GURPS stuff in PDF, but I'm tending to guess that they won't produce new GURPS hardbacks, and both PDF and print clearly fall under "Everything else is a non-priority, something to do if the priorities are under control."

Basic info every SJG Forums' GURPS-head knows:

* There is a GURPS PDF almost every week, albeit often a 3e reprint. There has been a load of Conan releases lately due to the licensing issues letting them be released.
* GURPS Dungeon Fantasy is a wildly successful PDF line that deals with a genre popular on these boards. And deals well, I might add.
* Punch is editing a new version of GURPS Discworld that's massive. It has to be a print version.
* I think SJG has been more reticent about hardcover GURPS books since Low-Tech, though it did alright on PDF.
* There is a full-time GURPS line editor (Sean Punch/Kromm) and there is a dedicated assistant (Jason Levine/Rev. Pee Kitty), though I don't think he's full time. In spite of the shift to Munchkin overall, there is still GURPS- dedicated staff.

In short, Munchkin is the main product, and GURPS is a distant second, but still gets full-time attention.

 

[prosfilaes]

In short, Munchkin is the main product, and GURPS is a distant second, but still gets full-time attention.

Hardly a distant second, judging from the priority list it doesn't appear on. In the entire report, GURPS gets mentioned once. It feels like Basic D&D in the TSR days; some support, but at best apathy from above.

There is a GURPS PDF almost every week, albeit often a 3e reprint.

I applaud the reprints, but they're hardly new support for a game.

GURPS Dungeon Fantasy is a wildly successful PDF line that deals with a genre popular on these boards.

Wildly successful? E23 makes a lot of raw information available to us (which I find deeply cool). According to my copy of Dungeon Fantasy 1, it was released Dec. 20, 2007; in 4 years, we've got 14 main books, a monster book and an adventure, ranging on a quick look from 20 pages to 64, and ranging from 1390 copies sold down to 293 copies sold. Admittedly, the top four have also been sold in unknown quantities as POD--roughly the print equivalent together of one 128 page book--but I'd hardly call that wildly successful in terms of sales or support.

 

[avin]

Munchkin more important than GURPS??? I've just dropped SJGames forever... /cry

 

[Morrus]

Transparency for all!

When will we see the ENW Stakeholder Report?

It's on the top left of the site, just below the logo.

 

[nightwind1]

Munchkin more important than GURPS??? I've just dropped SJGames forever... /cry

You do realize that Munchkin is what brings in the cashflow that allows SJG to work on GURPS as well, don't you?

 

[Kzach]

You do realize that Munchkin is what brings in the cashflow that allows SJG to work on GURPS as well, don't you?

Magic the Gathering more important than D&D? I'm dropping WotC forever!

 

[avin]

You do realize that Munchkin is what brings in the cashflow that allows SJG to work on GURPS as well, don't you?

You realize I was kidding, don't you?

 

[ExploderWizard]

Hardly a distant second, judging from the priority list it doesn't appear on. In the entire report, GURPS gets mentioned once. It feels like Basic D&D in the TSR days; some support, but at best apathy from above.



I applaud the reprints, but they're hardly new support for a game.



Wildly successful? E23 makes a lot of raw information available to us (which I find deeply cool). According to my copy of Dungeon Fantasy 1, it was released Dec. 20, 2007; in 4 years, we've got 14 main books, a monster book and an adventure, ranging on a quick look from 20 pages to 64, and ranging from 1390 copies sold down to 293 copies sold. Admittedly, the top four have also been sold in unknown quantities as POD--roughly the print equivalent together of one 128 page book--but I'd hardly call that wildly successful in terms of sales or support.

I am dissappointed with the level of GURPS support but the reality is they have to keep producing what sells.

I just wish that SJ would do a couple things for GURPS:

- Allow more freelancers to publish adventures.

- update some of the 3E stuff to 4E such as the bestiary and other crunch heavy books.

 

[prosfilaes]

You do realize that Munchkin is what brings in the cashflow that allows SJG to work on GURPS as well, don't you?

I'm curious if that's true. If SJG split into SJ-RPG and SJ-nonRPG, could not SJ-RPG fund one full-time person and various freelancers like they have been? Perhaps there's some economy of scale with various things, but is GURPS really a leech on money in the system?

 

[philreed]

- Allow more freelancers to publish adventures.

It's not a matter of "allowing" freelancers to publish adventures. It's just that we haven't received enough good query letters that we're able to publish many adventures.

Any freelancer out there who wants to write adventures for GURPS is encouraged to visit: e23: Writing for Us